An ethical hacker, who potentially saved the entire cryptocurrency market from disaster by discovering a flaw in Coinbase Global Inc COIN platform, has been paid a reward by the latter.
What Happened: The hacker, who goes by the handle “Tree of Alpha” on Twitter, said they were paid $250,000 by Coinbase as its largest-ever bounty.
A flaw in Coinbase's “Advanced Trading” feature would have allowed a malicious user to sell Bitcoin BTC/USD or any other coin without owning the underlying asset. Tree of Alpha said on Twitter that Coinbase’s reaction speed on a Super Bowl Friday “averted a possible crisis.”
Coinbase's "largest-ever bug bounty"
— Tree of Alpha (@Tree_of_Alpha) February 19, 2022
How a flaw in the new Advanced Trading feature would have allowed a malicious user to sell BTC or any other coin without owning them, and how Coinbase's reaction speed on a Super Bowl Friday averted a possible crisis.
Bounty: $250,000 pic.twitter.com/Y91M48pCcI
The white hacker detailed on Twitter how the vulnerability could have affected Coinbase in a Twitter thread.
“We will never know what exactly could have happened should a black-hat hacker try to exploit it, and it is better this way,” said Tree of Alpha.
We will never know what exactly could have happened should a black-hat hacker try to exploit it, and it is better this way.
— Tree of Alpha (@Tree_of_Alpha) February 19, 2022
While I could have, myself, tried to flash huge limit sell orders, responsible testing requires I only do the necessary to assess the extent of the bug.
See Also: How To Buy Coinbase (COIN) Shares
Why It Matters: Tree of Alpha said on Twitter that they did not need money and did not report the bug for that purpose.
-While I have made enough to retire myself and half a dozen generations after, if you feel in a generous spirit AND do not need it for yourself, you can donate ETH or mainstream ERC20-s to TreeOfAlpha.eth which will be forwarded to a charity of my choice.
— Tree of Alpha (@Tree_of_Alpha) February 14, 2022
The hacker said, according to a CoinTelegraph report, that “while a higher bounty might have been wise to deter more grey hats from exploiting vulnerabilities, it is common in the crypto sphere to lose touch with the value of money. For most working human beings, $250K is a very decent sum.”
Ahead of the Super Bowl, Tree of Alpha had tried to contact Coinbase and said that they were submitting a hacker1 report and it couldn’t wait as it is “potentially market nuking.”
Thanks to the efforts of social media users and the cryptocurrency community, the white hacker got in touch with Coinbase.
CEO Brian Armstrong thanked Tree of Alpha for working with Coinbase’s team and appreciated the community helping each other out.
.@Tree_of_Alpha you're awesome - a big thank you for working with our team
— Brian Armstrong - barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) February 11, 2022
love how the crypto community helps each other out!
Price Action: On Friday, Coinbase shares closed 1.4% lower at $189.16 in the regular session. At press time, Bitcoin traded 5.1% lower at $37,260.52.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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